When I was a kid, summers were spent chasing down the ice cream truck, reading, writing pen pals, and playing “Chicken on Wheels.”
In case you’re wondering, “Chicken on Wheels” was a truly stupid bicycle game wherein we “pumped” someone on our handlebars while charging another set of equally stupid kids doing the same thing on another bike; the first to deviate, lost. As you can imagine, one party inevitably ended up hitting a curb, breaking an appendage and/or bleeding.
We did this without helmets or elbow and knee pads, in the middle of the street, wearing shorts and barefoot.
Sometimes I had a pony tail, but that hardly mattered except for the time it got caught in the spokes after a particularly heinous crash.
It’s a wonder I’m alive.
There were 11 kids on my block, and our mothers should have purchased stock in Johnson and Johnson’s for the sheer number of Band-aids it took to keep us outside and out of their hair. That said, it is also where I learned the mantra spoken throughout my kids’ childhood years, “No blood, no bandaid.”
Band-aids are coveted like gold around here, people.
So, what is this post about anyway?
Bubble Writing–y’know, for any pen pal interactions going on this summer.
HAHAHA! I know, right? Welcome to the rabbit trails that dominate my brain.
Remember my review on the My Monster Bubble Writer Book? Well, the same company and artist created My Amazing Bubble Writer Stationery Kit, which is all kinds of fabulous, but not too spooky.
Plus, I imagine it’d be a definite incentive for any child (or adult–some of us are weird that way) who loves monsters and thinks writing friends a REAL letter on REAL paper is cool.
Bonus points for adding a stamp and mailing it!
Included in the kit (covered in cuteness):
» 8 stationery sheets
» 8 postcards
» 16 envelopes
» 19 stickers
» a bubble writing guide (in case you need a little help)
They had me at stickers.
I’ll use all the stickers except the hairy “hello” one in the top, right. That’s just…weird. I’m keeping the “You Rock” sticker for myself because sometimes a gal needs a little pick-me-up.
For those who don’t have a lot to say, but want to reach out anyway-the postcards are super vibrant and slide easily into the envelopes.
I told Meredith to send this one to our orthodontist, or that guy at the grocery store who always looks miserable while stacking the sweet potatoes.
Two of the postcards simply say, “Thanks.”
Honestly, I need a whole box of these. I’d send them out to the growing list of amazing people the internet has blessed me to know.
The kit even includes bubble writing tips; like, start with an outline and build on it with “wonky bits” and “crazy curves.”
Of course, even beyond the cards and stickers included in the stationery kit, accessorize the pages and postcards with colorful pens (puffy pens!) and pencils, glitter, photo cut-outs, and anything else to freshen up someone you love’s hot, hot summer day. Some extra confetti in the envelope might be fun too–for some, maybe not others. *wink*
It was always the summer months that found me strewn across the kitchen linoleum writing friends who moved out of state and cousins who would write me back. It also was how and where I learned how to address an envelope properly.
Craziness aside, pen pals are one of the ways I kept my kids’ handwriting from turning to gobbledy-gook over the summer months.
After all, in these days of emailing and texting, it is a rare gift to get a true letter or card in the mailbox–well, outside of your birthday.
Now, go forth and bubble write! Also? Tell us what you spent your summer months doing. IT IS TIME TO REMINISCE!
Heather Sanders is a leading homeschooling journalist who inspires homeschooling families to live, love and learn. Married to Jeff, Heather lives in the East Texas Piney Woods and homeschools her three children, Emelie, Meredith and Kenny.